arashi: go, and come back
Title: Go, and Come Back
Groups/Pairings: Aiba/Nino (friendship, main), Aiba/Arashi (friendship)
Rating: G
Date: November 16th, 2018
Word Count: 4,320
Summary: Inspired by the tabikaeru game. In here, Aiba and Nino are tiny people who call themselves Littles. Aiba likes to travel, and meeting new people on the road. Nino doesn't. But in the end, they both really want the same things.
Notes: Written for last year's Aiba Exchange (link). Thank you to the person responsible for the prompt, and thank you Shida and Saha for beta-ing!
GO, AND COME BACK
"Aiba-chan is a grump."
"No, I'm not," Aiba said cheerfully, not really protesting. He knew it amused Nino that his cloak made him look grumpy, and he didn't really mind. By then, he was used to Nino saying the same thing every time he was getting ready for a trip.
He watched as Nino tenderly packed his bags - that is, if by "tenderly" one meant carelessly throwing the unlit lamp in together with haphazardly wrapped sandwiches. Aiba chose to believe that Nino's intentions were tender, at least, and he knew that Nino was annoyed that he was leaving again after his last trip. "I think I need a tent for this one."
"You can sleep on the ground," Nino muttered. Aiba shrugged. It was true, he supposed. He wasn't really particular. It was winter, but so far it hadn't been that cold out. And the magic of his cloak also kept him warm, so it wasn't a problem. Except...
"Jun is joining me on this one, you know," he said.
He watched as Nino paused, and smiled as Nino let out a small sigh. "All right," Nino relented. "Since the princess is going."
Aiba wished that Nino would join him sometimes, but Nino was a staunch traditionalist - most Littles Aiba knew were content with their lot, and believed that they were not built for adventures or too much excitement. Aiba suspected that in Nino's case, it was really a case of extreme introversion rather than tradition, but who was he to argue? In any case, he was glad that Nino was home to look after their clover patch and eat all the food before they went to waste. And if he needed company in his travels, he had Jun.
Long after Nino had mumbled goodbye to Aiba (as he was smashing his palms on the controls of the much-too-big and somewhat old game) Aiba found himself in the middle of a vast field of black stone, looking up in wonder at the enormous building before him. He could probably fit his entire house into just the huge lantern between the gates, he thought.
He turned to Jun, who was already moving closer to the building.
"What are you doing?" he asked. "We said we're only here to look from afar."
Jun ignored him, moving closer. Aiba chased after him. He was glad for his new coat, which would do a better job at shielding him from the Bigs than Jun's. No one would believe that a butterfly is crawling about on the floor, Nino had said, and Aiba had to agree.
As Aiba got close enough to speak, Jun stopped. "Don't you want to climb up there and see how it looks like from that high up?"
Aiba stared at the top of the roof, the gold on the beams glinting in the sun. "Not particularly?" he ventured. Jun glanced at him. "Well, not right now," he amended. "We're going to a wedding right now."
Jun turned back to the roof, and shook his head. "Another time," he agreed.
***
The wedding was beautiful. Living so far away from the rest of the main Little communities, Aiba rarely got to experience such events in the first place, so he was glad that he accepted the invite. The bride was Jun's mother's cousin's sister-in-law's daughter. Aiba didn't know her personally, but there were fewer of them around these days, and most Littles saw each other as one big family. The Takizawas lived near a family of Sprites who helped out with the food - a banquet of all manners of sweet cakes. When Aiba had first heard about it, he was excited to meet them, but it turned out that the Sprites had a tent to themselves, and refused to mingle with the Little guests.
Jun had picked up only one small cake, perfectly shaped and coloured to resemble a sakura flower. Aiba watched as Jun ate a small bite at first, pausing before very slowly taking another. It looked like it took all his effort not to stuff the whole cake in his mouth. Aiba grinned, and took one for himself, not bothering to be as dainty about it.
"The food's amazing, isn't it?"
Aiba looked to the person on his left. "Uhmm," he sounded out with his mouth full. "Somgd."
The other man laughed. Aiba swallowed his cake and tried again. "Yes, so good," he agreed with enthusiasm.
"My sister, Mai, is a little on the untraditional side," the man confided. "There aren't a lot of Bigs in this area but there's a house closer to the edge, and sometimes she'd go there and watch them."
Aiba nodded sagely. "The picture box?" He and Nino spent a lot of their younger days sneaking up Big window ledges to take a look at the picture boxes that always seemed to be showing a new play, or performance, or instructional shows.
"I think they're called televisions," the man replied. "Every now and then the Bigs would watch this thing where people cook and eat different things, and my sister would almost always try to replicate them."
"That's amazing," Aiba said. "My friend Nino likes Big things too, but these days he doesn't like to go out much, so I try to bring back things for him when I can." He thought of the gift that Nino was still enjoying now, that he heard the Bigs called a DS. It was almost too big to bother with, and barely fit in through his front door, but he was glad he took it home (with Jun's help.) He told the man about it, adding, "I'm Aiba, by the way. My friend sort of knows the bride?"
"Sho." The man shot him a warm smile. "I'm the groom's brother."
"That makes you two somewhat related!" He clasped a hand on Sho's shoulder, and turned to Jun. "Jun, meet Sho, he's family!"
***
Jun seemed just the tiniest bit smitten with Sho, so Aiba suggested that they travel back together - at least until they had to part ways. They did stop by the same temple that Jun wanted to climb up. Aiba went with him; Sho, who had paled just looking up at the heights they intended to climb, remained below.
"Sho-san said that he's going to get some new inks and parchments at the Little town closest to here," Jun said. "I think I'll go with him. I need to restock, too."
Aiba nodded. "He's cute, isn't he?"
Jun shrugged. "I guess." He looked like he was about to say more, but he just gave a small shake of the head, and changed the subject. "How's Nino?"
Aiba's smile widened. "As grumpy as ever," he said. "I think the Sprite that made my cloak must've thought it was for him." It was true enough - any Big that looked too closely would've thought they were looking at a small frog with an expression indicating it wished to be anywhere but here.
Jun laughed. "Thank him for the tent, will you?" He looked down at his own cloak, all iridescent and sparkly and shit, as Nino had described it to Aiba. It was made by the same person, too, although Aiba hadn't met the Sprite that made them. Its magic made Jun appear like a butterfly to the Bigs, which sometimes worried Jun when they traveled together, because was it strange for a frog and a butterfly to be in close proximity? They didn't know.
***
When Aiba got back, his house was surprisingly empty. Even the large gaming thing was gone, and as far as he knew, Nino liked to leave it in Aiba's living room. It was too big to carry in and out often, and he was there most of the time, anyway.
Aiba looked around. From the thin layer of dust on his kitchen counter - where he would count on Nino to at least use when preparing food - it looked like Nino hadn't been around for the last couple of days, at least. He frowned, heading back to the living room to place his bags down. He had brought back a lot of cakes and sweets from the wedding - he knew that Nino wasn't keen on sweet things, but would still appreciate the thought.
When he checked the small table next to his bed, he saw the note.
Aiba-chan,
I'll be away for a few weeks. Don't worry, I've asked a friend to help out.
Aiba's frown deepened. He could almost hear the soft whine of Nino's voice in his head, saying Aiba is a grump, but this time, it didn't make him smile. Nino rarely left the small grove they've built their houses in, and never for that long. He wondered if something was wrong. And who was this "friend" - and what exactly were they helping out on?
He did have to leave again the next morning, though, so he pushed his thoughts and worries away. He had promised to meet up with Jun again after he went home to check on Nino, this time to travel to Sho's. Sho said that he lived near a Little community, and there was going to be some sort of festival for the winter solstice. It sounded like a lot of fun; Aiba had even entertained the idea of dragging Nino along if he could manage it.
He'd have to wake up earlier to repack, he supposed. He was meeting Jun at the Little town where the stationer's was, which was half a day's travel away. Sho's place was at least a whole day away from that town. He would need to bring something more filling. He had left his tent with Jun, but he would probably need a new set of matches or a different lamp altogether...
As he mused over what to pack, he doodled out a draft of a map to the wedding he had attended, and added notes about the Littles he met there. Living far away from other Littles (with the exception of Nino), he liked to keep track of all the other communities and villages he'd been to.
***
He woke up to the smell of breakfast. A sweet, rich smell that made him think of piles and piles of honeycakes. That's weird, Nino never makes breakfast, he thought sleepily, when he remembered that Nino wasn't around. He opened his eyes, trying to focus even as he groggily moved to get out of bed.
"Is someone there?" he asked, climbing down to the living room.
There was no reply - and no one around. But there on the table was a small plate with three honeycakes. On the chair, neatly upright, was his biggest backpack. Aiba went over, and looked inside.
A change of clothes, a small towel, the lamp he was thinking of taking, a new set of parchments with his stationery case, and... packed lunch.
"Nino's friend?" he asked, confused. "Are you here?"
There was no answer, but he wasn't surprised, since he couldn't see anyone around. If anyone came in to pack his things, that person had already left.
He sat down, wondering what would be more surprising; that Nino was friends with a Sprite (because there was no other Little living nearby, and only a Sprite would be able to do so much so quietly, because magic), or that Nino had friends other than him in the first place.
Of course Nino knew a Sprite, Aiba mused, as he thought about it more. Nino was the one who commissioned to get his and Jun's cloaks made, after all. Aiba wondered if it was the same person.
The thing about Sprites was that they weren't always visible, and although they were a lot like Littles in many ways (except for the magic thing, and the wings), they didn't always choose to be seen or to participate in Little society. Aiba thought about the ones at the wedding he had been to, that have all kept themselves secluded. Aiba would've loved to get to know Nino's friend, but he supposed that if the Sprite wanted to be seen, he would've been.
Still, before he left for the day, Aiba left a small note for Nino's friend, telling them to help themselves to the cakes Aiba had brought for Nino.
***
Aiba still wrote and doodled things he saw for Nino, even though he wasn't sure when Nino would be back to see them. The trip to Sho's had been fun - Jun was a little reserved at first, because he didn't warm to new people as easily, and they met so many new people. Sho wasn't kidding when he said that he lived in a thriving Little community - it felt more like a small town than a village to Aiba, and he was glad to have had the chance to experience their solstice celebration. The entire town was decorated in bright colours and there were dances and games and food. Jun was mesmerised by it all - he lived in a much smaller community, with only four or five families, but Aiba wouldn't be surprised if Jun managed to bring back some of the colour and excitement back to his own.
Aiba only had Nino, and he didn't even know when he could tell Nino about his trip.
He shook his head, and smiled at Sho who was talking animatedly about how they shouldn't miss the lecture on acorns that evening. Somehow, it didn't surprise Aiba at all to find out that Sho was more excited about the talk on acorns than the other things going on. Well, and the food - Sho and his sister were both enthusiastic about the food.
In Little villages, usually everyone living there used the same kind of cloak, so that they would be less conspicuous to the Bigs. Jun's cloak made him look like a butterfly, because everyone from his village used butterfly cloaks. Sho's village were mice - dormice, to be exact. He and Jun probably stood out among the rest of them on a normal day, but it was a festival, and they weren't the only visitors to the village.
While the cloaks were meant to fool Bigs, even Littles could see hints of their magic. It was as if seeing two people at once; both the disguise and the true person wearing it. And being among so many dormice, Aiba felt a pang of loneliness, being the only frog in the midst. He was a Little, and therefore family. But he was also an outsider, in other ways. He could feel the warmth of the community that welcomed him and Jun, and was touched by it, but at the same time, he was very much aware of how he would soon be leaving them behind, like all the other villages and towns he had been to.
Sometimes he felt like he was walking towards something, an edge or a line that he didn't want to cross or think about. He had been part of a Little village growing up, but he and Nino were separated from their family during a flood. He started traveling and looking up other villages in hopes of finding either of their families, or anyone from their old village. As the years went by, he had stopped thinking he'd find them, and began to enjoy the trips as something else.
Nino insisted that they'd be fine with just the two of them, and most days Aiba would agree. Sometimes, though, he found himself closer to that edge, wondering what if.
As he took in the view of all the activity around him, he also wondered about what it was like for Nino, alone every time Aiba went away.
"What's wrong?"
Aiba shook his head again, still trying to clear off his thoughts. "Nothing. I was just thinking about Nino."
Jun looked serious. He knew Nino, since he had stayed over at Aiba's a few times. He liked Aiba's and Nino's place (Nino's house was just next to Aiba's, but he spent so much time at Aiba's that Jun thought of the place as his, too). "I'm worried about him," Jun admitted.
Me, too, Aiba wanted to say, but instead he poked Jun on the side and said, "he'll be fine. He's Nino."
***
The Bigs sometimes called the Sprites "Elves", even though they looked nothing like the pictures Aiba had seen of Elves, as the Bigs drew them anyway. Aiba didn't even know if elves were real, but he supposed that if Littles and Sprites existed, then why not Elves?
Aiba never spent much time thinking of Sprites before, as he had never seen any evidence of sprites living in their grove. But when he arrived home with a bag full of treats and souvenirs for both Nino and the Sprite, he found himself wishing he knew more about them, and what they liked.
He placed all of his letters and pictures for Nino on his desk. He stood there, staring at the pile for a couple of minutes, before picking them up again, and stacked them neatly on the right side of the desk. He sat down, took out his brushes and inks, and started writing.
He spent the entire next day at home, but neither Nino nor the Sprite turned up. The day after, he woke up to see his bags packed again, with provisions perfectly matched to his new destination (Sho had a cousin from a Little village Aiba had never been to, and was taking him there.)
So he left his letter to the sprite on the living room table, and a small plate of sweets from the festival.
***
When he got back, Aiba found a reply to his letter on the table. He had just written a description of the things he had seen, and the people he met at Sho's village. The sprite replied not with words, but a watercolour painting of the festival. It didn't look exactly like the real thing, of course, but it captured Aiba's feelings while he was there so perfectly.
He picked it up as gently as he could, which was hard when he could feel an indescribable feeling bubbling up in him. It didn't come with a note, so Aiba just took the painting up to his bedroom, and tacked it on his wall.
***
Aiba went on a lot of shorter trips for the rest of the week. He still found his bags newly packed every morning, and he thought of staying up to see if he could catch the sprite in the act of packing, but he always fell asleep before he did.
He continued leaving sweets and notes to them, and getting drawings or paintings in return when he returned.
The week after, as he was leaving for a two-day trip, he mentioned in his note that he wished they could meet.
When he came back, for the first time there was nothing waiting for him.
***
"Why do you go away so much?" Sho asked him, as he shakily stepped away from the swallow that had flown them over the other side of the river. It was funny, how scared he had looked, especially when his cloak was up and all Aiba saw was a screaming mouse.
"What do you mean? You like traveling, too." Aiba was used to the Littles from the villages he visited asking him the question, but he thought that Jun and Sho were just like him.
"Ye-es," Sho replied, drawing out the word. "But I also spend time at home. You always seem like you're avoiding home."
Aiba was silent for a beat, pondering on Sho's words. "I don't think I am," he said, but his voice was quieter than it was earlier. "I just like seeing new places, that's all."
"It's fun," Sho agreed. "Especially with company. But isn't the point of going away to come home?"
***
It depended on what you were going home to, maybe, Aiba thought, as he put his bags down in the living room. It was different for Sho, with his large family and busy village.
Aiba was planning to stay home for a few days, at least - Jun said he was visiting. As he sat down, his front door opened, startling him.
"Nino!"
"Took you long enough to get back," Nino grumbled. He sat down next to Aiba. "I came back thinking you'd be crying to see me, and it turned out that you were just away again."
"This time I'll be home for a few days at least," Aiba promised. "And I left you lots of stuff, did you see?"
Nino's eyes flickered towards him, but Aiba couldn't see his best friend's expression from where he sat.
"Nino?" he asked quietly. "Are you okay?"
Nino sighed, and shifted a little closer. "I'm fine. There was just this Big event that I wanted to see, so I went to the nearest Big house hoping that I could watch it on their picture box -"
"Television," Aiba interrupted, remembering Sho telling him.
"Yeah, that - but they weren't watching what I wanted to watch, so I had to go to a different Big's house, and well. It took some time. I was going to wait for you to get back, to see if you wanted to come along, but you took too long."
"I'm sorry," Aiba said. "For always leaving."
Nino snorted. "You don't have anything to be sorry about. You wouldn't be you if you're home all the time."
"Yeah, but." Aiba paused as he tried to find the right words. It was hard when he was still trying to figure out his own feelings. "I missed you so much when you were away. And it made me think about all the times I left you alone."
"Oh, I wasn't alone." Nino's voice was airy, like he didn't care at all, but Aiba thought he sounded a little strange. And Nino wasn't looking at him. "Oh-chan was here. I asked him to take care of you. Didn't you meet him?"
"Oh-chan," Aiba murmured to himself. "That's the Sprite? I haven't met him, but he was around."
"He's a bit weird," Nino said, still looking away, but Aiba thought that his best friend was smiling as he spoke. "And it's weird that he wouldn't show himself. Wait." Nino got up, and before Aiba could say anything, he left.
Aiba thought of going after him, but he had just got back, and was tired, and figured that Nino would be back soon anyway. He didn't look up when he heard the door open again, but the footsteps he heard wasn't Nino's.
"Hi," the Sprite said.
Aiba stared. The sunlight from the doorway was shining directly on the sprite, so Aiba couldn't see very clearly. "Oh...chan?" he guessed.
The Sprite moved closer, away from the sunlight. "You can call me Satoshi, if you like," he said. "I said that to Nino, too, but..."
Aiba nodded. "He can be like that."
Satoshi sat at the place Nino had been. They didn't speak. Aiba just watched as Satoshi poured himself tea, seemingly at home. In fact, he seemed more at home with the area than Aiba sometimes felt. Aiba remembered Sho saying that he was always avoiding home; perhaps there was some truth to it. At that moment, he couldn't think of any good reason why.
"Sorry, did you want some tea, too?" Satoshi asked.
"No, that's fine." Aiba was still staring. Satoshi was the first sprite he'd seen, and he looked... surprisingly normal. Sure, his hair colour was lighter than any of the Littles Aiba knew, and his skin a little dark (but Aiba knew entire villages of Littles with darker skin), and he had wings. But the wings were see-through and shiny and they folded in neatly against Satoshi's back, and not at all like the butterfly wings Aiba had imagined them to be. And... "you're so normal," he finally said.
Satoshi looked amused. "As opposed to what?"
Aiba thought about his words, and laughed a little. "Nothing. Sorry. I've never met a Sprite before."
"I figured."
"Was that why you stayed away?"
"Not really." Aiba waited, but Satoshi didn't elaborate.
"I like your paintings," Aiba finally said.
Satoshi beamed. "I like your letters."
Aiba looked at the doorway. "Is Nino coming back?"
"In a bit. He's actually a lot more shy than he lets on, and he's a little overwhelmed to know that you missed him."
"Of course I'd miss him," Aiba replied, feeling a little indignant. "He's family."
"I know." Satoshi turned to the doorway, too. "He does, too. Sometimes he just forgets."
***
Aiba ended up staying home for two weeks. Jun came over for a few days, like he said he would. He brought Sho with him. Nino got along with Sho a little better than he did with Jun the first time they'd met, but Aiba supposed that it was because Jun and Nino were too similar in some ways. Satoshi suggested that Nino was jealous that Aiba was spending a lot of time with Jun, but Aiba thought that that was ridiculous.
He asked Nino to join him on his next trip, and Nino refused, as he always did. This time, though, Nino smiled and rolled his eyes as he said no, and added "maybe some other time."
He packed his own bags, with Satoshi hovering looking somewhat dissatisfied, and waved at the two friends he was leaving behind.
No, Aiba thought. He wasn't running away, or leaving them behind. He was just going on another adventure, and after, he had them to come home to.
- end -
Groups/Pairings: Aiba/Nino (friendship, main), Aiba/Arashi (friendship)
Rating: G
Date: November 16th, 2018
Word Count: 4,320
Summary: Inspired by the tabikaeru game. In here, Aiba and Nino are tiny people who call themselves Littles. Aiba likes to travel, and meeting new people on the road. Nino doesn't. But in the end, they both really want the same things.
Notes: Written for last year's Aiba Exchange (link). Thank you to the person responsible for the prompt, and thank you Shida and Saha for beta-ing!
GO, AND COME BACK
"Aiba-chan is a grump."
"No, I'm not," Aiba said cheerfully, not really protesting. He knew it amused Nino that his cloak made him look grumpy, and he didn't really mind. By then, he was used to Nino saying the same thing every time he was getting ready for a trip.
He watched as Nino tenderly packed his bags - that is, if by "tenderly" one meant carelessly throwing the unlit lamp in together with haphazardly wrapped sandwiches. Aiba chose to believe that Nino's intentions were tender, at least, and he knew that Nino was annoyed that he was leaving again after his last trip. "I think I need a tent for this one."
"You can sleep on the ground," Nino muttered. Aiba shrugged. It was true, he supposed. He wasn't really particular. It was winter, but so far it hadn't been that cold out. And the magic of his cloak also kept him warm, so it wasn't a problem. Except...
"Jun is joining me on this one, you know," he said.
He watched as Nino paused, and smiled as Nino let out a small sigh. "All right," Nino relented. "Since the princess is going."
Aiba wished that Nino would join him sometimes, but Nino was a staunch traditionalist - most Littles Aiba knew were content with their lot, and believed that they were not built for adventures or too much excitement. Aiba suspected that in Nino's case, it was really a case of extreme introversion rather than tradition, but who was he to argue? In any case, he was glad that Nino was home to look after their clover patch and eat all the food before they went to waste. And if he needed company in his travels, he had Jun.
Long after Nino had mumbled goodbye to Aiba (as he was smashing his palms on the controls of the much-too-big and somewhat old game) Aiba found himself in the middle of a vast field of black stone, looking up in wonder at the enormous building before him. He could probably fit his entire house into just the huge lantern between the gates, he thought.
He turned to Jun, who was already moving closer to the building.
"What are you doing?" he asked. "We said we're only here to look from afar."
Jun ignored him, moving closer. Aiba chased after him. He was glad for his new coat, which would do a better job at shielding him from the Bigs than Jun's. No one would believe that a butterfly is crawling about on the floor, Nino had said, and Aiba had to agree.
As Aiba got close enough to speak, Jun stopped. "Don't you want to climb up there and see how it looks like from that high up?"
Aiba stared at the top of the roof, the gold on the beams glinting in the sun. "Not particularly?" he ventured. Jun glanced at him. "Well, not right now," he amended. "We're going to a wedding right now."
Jun turned back to the roof, and shook his head. "Another time," he agreed.
***
The wedding was beautiful. Living so far away from the rest of the main Little communities, Aiba rarely got to experience such events in the first place, so he was glad that he accepted the invite. The bride was Jun's mother's cousin's sister-in-law's daughter. Aiba didn't know her personally, but there were fewer of them around these days, and most Littles saw each other as one big family. The Takizawas lived near a family of Sprites who helped out with the food - a banquet of all manners of sweet cakes. When Aiba had first heard about it, he was excited to meet them, but it turned out that the Sprites had a tent to themselves, and refused to mingle with the Little guests.
Jun had picked up only one small cake, perfectly shaped and coloured to resemble a sakura flower. Aiba watched as Jun ate a small bite at first, pausing before very slowly taking another. It looked like it took all his effort not to stuff the whole cake in his mouth. Aiba grinned, and took one for himself, not bothering to be as dainty about it.
"The food's amazing, isn't it?"
Aiba looked to the person on his left. "Uhmm," he sounded out with his mouth full. "Somgd."
The other man laughed. Aiba swallowed his cake and tried again. "Yes, so good," he agreed with enthusiasm.
"My sister, Mai, is a little on the untraditional side," the man confided. "There aren't a lot of Bigs in this area but there's a house closer to the edge, and sometimes she'd go there and watch them."
Aiba nodded sagely. "The picture box?" He and Nino spent a lot of their younger days sneaking up Big window ledges to take a look at the picture boxes that always seemed to be showing a new play, or performance, or instructional shows.
"I think they're called televisions," the man replied. "Every now and then the Bigs would watch this thing where people cook and eat different things, and my sister would almost always try to replicate them."
"That's amazing," Aiba said. "My friend Nino likes Big things too, but these days he doesn't like to go out much, so I try to bring back things for him when I can." He thought of the gift that Nino was still enjoying now, that he heard the Bigs called a DS. It was almost too big to bother with, and barely fit in through his front door, but he was glad he took it home (with Jun's help.) He told the man about it, adding, "I'm Aiba, by the way. My friend sort of knows the bride?"
"Sho." The man shot him a warm smile. "I'm the groom's brother."
"That makes you two somewhat related!" He clasped a hand on Sho's shoulder, and turned to Jun. "Jun, meet Sho, he's family!"
***
Jun seemed just the tiniest bit smitten with Sho, so Aiba suggested that they travel back together - at least until they had to part ways. They did stop by the same temple that Jun wanted to climb up. Aiba went with him; Sho, who had paled just looking up at the heights they intended to climb, remained below.
"Sho-san said that he's going to get some new inks and parchments at the Little town closest to here," Jun said. "I think I'll go with him. I need to restock, too."
Aiba nodded. "He's cute, isn't he?"
Jun shrugged. "I guess." He looked like he was about to say more, but he just gave a small shake of the head, and changed the subject. "How's Nino?"
Aiba's smile widened. "As grumpy as ever," he said. "I think the Sprite that made my cloak must've thought it was for him." It was true enough - any Big that looked too closely would've thought they were looking at a small frog with an expression indicating it wished to be anywhere but here.
Jun laughed. "Thank him for the tent, will you?" He looked down at his own cloak, all iridescent and sparkly and shit, as Nino had described it to Aiba. It was made by the same person, too, although Aiba hadn't met the Sprite that made them. Its magic made Jun appear like a butterfly to the Bigs, which sometimes worried Jun when they traveled together, because was it strange for a frog and a butterfly to be in close proximity? They didn't know.
***
When Aiba got back, his house was surprisingly empty. Even the large gaming thing was gone, and as far as he knew, Nino liked to leave it in Aiba's living room. It was too big to carry in and out often, and he was there most of the time, anyway.
Aiba looked around. From the thin layer of dust on his kitchen counter - where he would count on Nino to at least use when preparing food - it looked like Nino hadn't been around for the last couple of days, at least. He frowned, heading back to the living room to place his bags down. He had brought back a lot of cakes and sweets from the wedding - he knew that Nino wasn't keen on sweet things, but would still appreciate the thought.
When he checked the small table next to his bed, he saw the note.
Aiba-chan,
I'll be away for a few weeks. Don't worry, I've asked a friend to help out.
Aiba's frown deepened. He could almost hear the soft whine of Nino's voice in his head, saying Aiba is a grump, but this time, it didn't make him smile. Nino rarely left the small grove they've built their houses in, and never for that long. He wondered if something was wrong. And who was this "friend" - and what exactly were they helping out on?
He did have to leave again the next morning, though, so he pushed his thoughts and worries away. He had promised to meet up with Jun again after he went home to check on Nino, this time to travel to Sho's. Sho said that he lived near a Little community, and there was going to be some sort of festival for the winter solstice. It sounded like a lot of fun; Aiba had even entertained the idea of dragging Nino along if he could manage it.
He'd have to wake up earlier to repack, he supposed. He was meeting Jun at the Little town where the stationer's was, which was half a day's travel away. Sho's place was at least a whole day away from that town. He would need to bring something more filling. He had left his tent with Jun, but he would probably need a new set of matches or a different lamp altogether...
As he mused over what to pack, he doodled out a draft of a map to the wedding he had attended, and added notes about the Littles he met there. Living far away from other Littles (with the exception of Nino), he liked to keep track of all the other communities and villages he'd been to.
***
He woke up to the smell of breakfast. A sweet, rich smell that made him think of piles and piles of honeycakes. That's weird, Nino never makes breakfast, he thought sleepily, when he remembered that Nino wasn't around. He opened his eyes, trying to focus even as he groggily moved to get out of bed.
"Is someone there?" he asked, climbing down to the living room.
There was no reply - and no one around. But there on the table was a small plate with three honeycakes. On the chair, neatly upright, was his biggest backpack. Aiba went over, and looked inside.
A change of clothes, a small towel, the lamp he was thinking of taking, a new set of parchments with his stationery case, and... packed lunch.
"Nino's friend?" he asked, confused. "Are you here?"
There was no answer, but he wasn't surprised, since he couldn't see anyone around. If anyone came in to pack his things, that person had already left.
He sat down, wondering what would be more surprising; that Nino was friends with a Sprite (because there was no other Little living nearby, and only a Sprite would be able to do so much so quietly, because magic), or that Nino had friends other than him in the first place.
Of course Nino knew a Sprite, Aiba mused, as he thought about it more. Nino was the one who commissioned to get his and Jun's cloaks made, after all. Aiba wondered if it was the same person.
The thing about Sprites was that they weren't always visible, and although they were a lot like Littles in many ways (except for the magic thing, and the wings), they didn't always choose to be seen or to participate in Little society. Aiba thought about the ones at the wedding he had been to, that have all kept themselves secluded. Aiba would've loved to get to know Nino's friend, but he supposed that if the Sprite wanted to be seen, he would've been.
Still, before he left for the day, Aiba left a small note for Nino's friend, telling them to help themselves to the cakes Aiba had brought for Nino.
***
Aiba still wrote and doodled things he saw for Nino, even though he wasn't sure when Nino would be back to see them. The trip to Sho's had been fun - Jun was a little reserved at first, because he didn't warm to new people as easily, and they met so many new people. Sho wasn't kidding when he said that he lived in a thriving Little community - it felt more like a small town than a village to Aiba, and he was glad to have had the chance to experience their solstice celebration. The entire town was decorated in bright colours and there were dances and games and food. Jun was mesmerised by it all - he lived in a much smaller community, with only four or five families, but Aiba wouldn't be surprised if Jun managed to bring back some of the colour and excitement back to his own.
Aiba only had Nino, and he didn't even know when he could tell Nino about his trip.
He shook his head, and smiled at Sho who was talking animatedly about how they shouldn't miss the lecture on acorns that evening. Somehow, it didn't surprise Aiba at all to find out that Sho was more excited about the talk on acorns than the other things going on. Well, and the food - Sho and his sister were both enthusiastic about the food.
In Little villages, usually everyone living there used the same kind of cloak, so that they would be less conspicuous to the Bigs. Jun's cloak made him look like a butterfly, because everyone from his village used butterfly cloaks. Sho's village were mice - dormice, to be exact. He and Jun probably stood out among the rest of them on a normal day, but it was a festival, and they weren't the only visitors to the village.
While the cloaks were meant to fool Bigs, even Littles could see hints of their magic. It was as if seeing two people at once; both the disguise and the true person wearing it. And being among so many dormice, Aiba felt a pang of loneliness, being the only frog in the midst. He was a Little, and therefore family. But he was also an outsider, in other ways. He could feel the warmth of the community that welcomed him and Jun, and was touched by it, but at the same time, he was very much aware of how he would soon be leaving them behind, like all the other villages and towns he had been to.
Sometimes he felt like he was walking towards something, an edge or a line that he didn't want to cross or think about. He had been part of a Little village growing up, but he and Nino were separated from their family during a flood. He started traveling and looking up other villages in hopes of finding either of their families, or anyone from their old village. As the years went by, he had stopped thinking he'd find them, and began to enjoy the trips as something else.
Nino insisted that they'd be fine with just the two of them, and most days Aiba would agree. Sometimes, though, he found himself closer to that edge, wondering what if.
As he took in the view of all the activity around him, he also wondered about what it was like for Nino, alone every time Aiba went away.
"What's wrong?"
Aiba shook his head again, still trying to clear off his thoughts. "Nothing. I was just thinking about Nino."
Jun looked serious. He knew Nino, since he had stayed over at Aiba's a few times. He liked Aiba's and Nino's place (Nino's house was just next to Aiba's, but he spent so much time at Aiba's that Jun thought of the place as his, too). "I'm worried about him," Jun admitted.
Me, too, Aiba wanted to say, but instead he poked Jun on the side and said, "he'll be fine. He's Nino."
***
The Bigs sometimes called the Sprites "Elves", even though they looked nothing like the pictures Aiba had seen of Elves, as the Bigs drew them anyway. Aiba didn't even know if elves were real, but he supposed that if Littles and Sprites existed, then why not Elves?
Aiba never spent much time thinking of Sprites before, as he had never seen any evidence of sprites living in their grove. But when he arrived home with a bag full of treats and souvenirs for both Nino and the Sprite, he found himself wishing he knew more about them, and what they liked.
He placed all of his letters and pictures for Nino on his desk. He stood there, staring at the pile for a couple of minutes, before picking them up again, and stacked them neatly on the right side of the desk. He sat down, took out his brushes and inks, and started writing.
He spent the entire next day at home, but neither Nino nor the Sprite turned up. The day after, he woke up to see his bags packed again, with provisions perfectly matched to his new destination (Sho had a cousin from a Little village Aiba had never been to, and was taking him there.)
So he left his letter to the sprite on the living room table, and a small plate of sweets from the festival.
***
When he got back, Aiba found a reply to his letter on the table. He had just written a description of the things he had seen, and the people he met at Sho's village. The sprite replied not with words, but a watercolour painting of the festival. It didn't look exactly like the real thing, of course, but it captured Aiba's feelings while he was there so perfectly.
He picked it up as gently as he could, which was hard when he could feel an indescribable feeling bubbling up in him. It didn't come with a note, so Aiba just took the painting up to his bedroom, and tacked it on his wall.
***
Aiba went on a lot of shorter trips for the rest of the week. He still found his bags newly packed every morning, and he thought of staying up to see if he could catch the sprite in the act of packing, but he always fell asleep before he did.
He continued leaving sweets and notes to them, and getting drawings or paintings in return when he returned.
The week after, as he was leaving for a two-day trip, he mentioned in his note that he wished they could meet.
When he came back, for the first time there was nothing waiting for him.
***
"Why do you go away so much?" Sho asked him, as he shakily stepped away from the swallow that had flown them over the other side of the river. It was funny, how scared he had looked, especially when his cloak was up and all Aiba saw was a screaming mouse.
"What do you mean? You like traveling, too." Aiba was used to the Littles from the villages he visited asking him the question, but he thought that Jun and Sho were just like him.
"Ye-es," Sho replied, drawing out the word. "But I also spend time at home. You always seem like you're avoiding home."
Aiba was silent for a beat, pondering on Sho's words. "I don't think I am," he said, but his voice was quieter than it was earlier. "I just like seeing new places, that's all."
"It's fun," Sho agreed. "Especially with company. But isn't the point of going away to come home?"
***
It depended on what you were going home to, maybe, Aiba thought, as he put his bags down in the living room. It was different for Sho, with his large family and busy village.
Aiba was planning to stay home for a few days, at least - Jun said he was visiting. As he sat down, his front door opened, startling him.
"Nino!"
"Took you long enough to get back," Nino grumbled. He sat down next to Aiba. "I came back thinking you'd be crying to see me, and it turned out that you were just away again."
"This time I'll be home for a few days at least," Aiba promised. "And I left you lots of stuff, did you see?"
Nino's eyes flickered towards him, but Aiba couldn't see his best friend's expression from where he sat.
"Nino?" he asked quietly. "Are you okay?"
Nino sighed, and shifted a little closer. "I'm fine. There was just this Big event that I wanted to see, so I went to the nearest Big house hoping that I could watch it on their picture box -"
"Television," Aiba interrupted, remembering Sho telling him.
"Yeah, that - but they weren't watching what I wanted to watch, so I had to go to a different Big's house, and well. It took some time. I was going to wait for you to get back, to see if you wanted to come along, but you took too long."
"I'm sorry," Aiba said. "For always leaving."
Nino snorted. "You don't have anything to be sorry about. You wouldn't be you if you're home all the time."
"Yeah, but." Aiba paused as he tried to find the right words. It was hard when he was still trying to figure out his own feelings. "I missed you so much when you were away. And it made me think about all the times I left you alone."
"Oh, I wasn't alone." Nino's voice was airy, like he didn't care at all, but Aiba thought he sounded a little strange. And Nino wasn't looking at him. "Oh-chan was here. I asked him to take care of you. Didn't you meet him?"
"Oh-chan," Aiba murmured to himself. "That's the Sprite? I haven't met him, but he was around."
"He's a bit weird," Nino said, still looking away, but Aiba thought that his best friend was smiling as he spoke. "And it's weird that he wouldn't show himself. Wait." Nino got up, and before Aiba could say anything, he left.
Aiba thought of going after him, but he had just got back, and was tired, and figured that Nino would be back soon anyway. He didn't look up when he heard the door open again, but the footsteps he heard wasn't Nino's.
"Hi," the Sprite said.
Aiba stared. The sunlight from the doorway was shining directly on the sprite, so Aiba couldn't see very clearly. "Oh...chan?" he guessed.
The Sprite moved closer, away from the sunlight. "You can call me Satoshi, if you like," he said. "I said that to Nino, too, but..."
Aiba nodded. "He can be like that."
Satoshi sat at the place Nino had been. They didn't speak. Aiba just watched as Satoshi poured himself tea, seemingly at home. In fact, he seemed more at home with the area than Aiba sometimes felt. Aiba remembered Sho saying that he was always avoiding home; perhaps there was some truth to it. At that moment, he couldn't think of any good reason why.
"Sorry, did you want some tea, too?" Satoshi asked.
"No, that's fine." Aiba was still staring. Satoshi was the first sprite he'd seen, and he looked... surprisingly normal. Sure, his hair colour was lighter than any of the Littles Aiba knew, and his skin a little dark (but Aiba knew entire villages of Littles with darker skin), and he had wings. But the wings were see-through and shiny and they folded in neatly against Satoshi's back, and not at all like the butterfly wings Aiba had imagined them to be. And... "you're so normal," he finally said.
Satoshi looked amused. "As opposed to what?"
Aiba thought about his words, and laughed a little. "Nothing. Sorry. I've never met a Sprite before."
"I figured."
"Was that why you stayed away?"
"Not really." Aiba waited, but Satoshi didn't elaborate.
"I like your paintings," Aiba finally said.
Satoshi beamed. "I like your letters."
Aiba looked at the doorway. "Is Nino coming back?"
"In a bit. He's actually a lot more shy than he lets on, and he's a little overwhelmed to know that you missed him."
"Of course I'd miss him," Aiba replied, feeling a little indignant. "He's family."
"I know." Satoshi turned to the doorway, too. "He does, too. Sometimes he just forgets."
***
Aiba ended up staying home for two weeks. Jun came over for a few days, like he said he would. He brought Sho with him. Nino got along with Sho a little better than he did with Jun the first time they'd met, but Aiba supposed that it was because Jun and Nino were too similar in some ways. Satoshi suggested that Nino was jealous that Aiba was spending a lot of time with Jun, but Aiba thought that that was ridiculous.
He asked Nino to join him on his next trip, and Nino refused, as he always did. This time, though, Nino smiled and rolled his eyes as he said no, and added "maybe some other time."
He packed his own bags, with Satoshi hovering looking somewhat dissatisfied, and waved at the two friends he was leaving behind.
No, Aiba thought. He wasn't running away, or leaving them behind. He was just going on another adventure, and after, he had them to come home to.
- end -